I like how Biggins has a Baton and a pistol, prefect for an officer.

Those dude sure know what time it is, hu?

Hey, I didn't know Fox smoked, what's up with that?

...and please don't ask what purpose these cigars fit

I'm not sure what you guys are talking about 5.56 doesn't cut armor.

it's that the bullets themselves are being shot with much less velocity and cutting power than a 7.62 or .50 caliber round

I'm not sure what you guys are talking about 5.56 doesn't cut armor. I'm doing fine and i'm just outside Meduna. Course it does take three bursts to kill your enemy.

5.56 AP ammo DOES cut armor

KCB knife (knife/wirecutters FTW!)
1-2 first aid kits (depends on if I'm trying to eliminate extra weight}
TT Utility Vest for standard troops or SAW Rig for the machine gunner
Dyneema armor with compound 18, leg protectors, and ceramic plates
Gas Mask
The best NV goggles I can get
Sun goggles
1-2 canteens
Full ghillie suit
My leg rigs depend on the individual merc's roles, but generally I choose between: MP Holster; the First Aid Rig; AR Mag/Utility Pouch; Canteen/Utility Pouch; 40mm Grenade Panel; AR Mag/Canteen/Grenade Panel; SAW Pouch.
I generally scavenge my pistol backup weapon, rather than spending money on it. End game I'm generally going with either a 5-7 or MP7 and AET ammo for most mercs. I don't bother with this item on Mercs that carry a Magpul PDR or FNP90 as a secondary weapon.
Tactical Tailor Combat Pack

KCB knife (knife/wirecutters FTW!)
1-2 first aid kits (depends on if I'm trying to eliminate extra weight)
TT Utility Vest
Dyneema armor with compound 18, leg protectors, and ceramic plates
Gas Mask
The best NV goggles I can get
Sun goggles
1-2 canteens (and leaning towards 2 canteens when possible)
Full ghillie suit (or a constant supply of the truck's stash of camouflage kits)
My leg rigs depend on the individual merc's roles (Usually includes one SAW rig as a general purpose dump bag for mags, c-mags, large mags, etc. Great multipurpose equipment.)
I generally scavenge my pistol backup weapon, rather than spending money on it.

Currently experimenting with the TIMS pack set. Not having the small pocket like on the Tactical Tailor Combat Pack hurts a little bit early game, when I'm carrying lots of grenades. Later game, when the short range of most grenades leaves them useless compared to grenade launchers, I'm not needing more stash space for them, but the TIMS backpack really helps carry more... mortars, extra explosives, camouflage kits, and attractive weapon drops for prospective team members.

On top of this, I'm generally packing:

Extended Ears
2 Chemical Break Lights
Emergency Flares, which like Illumination Grenades have a brighter presence than Chem Lights during night engagements.
Smoke Grenade, generally just 1 a piece. When one merc comes under fire, they really do make a difference. And the merc carrying one by themselves does indeed end up being the one shot, unable to manage the APs to save their own butts. So everyone gets 1. I don't really bother with mustard or CS gas, as you often have to deploy it on top of your wounded merc, and I don't have their gas mask equipped by default.
Flashbang on mercs that have close combat weapons... SMGs or carbines and the like. Mostly it's good for enemies entrenched in buildings, in known locations.

Weapons are varied extensively. Depends on late game versus early game, and whether or not I'm trying to play a low-cost revolution, or a highly financed coup. I generally favor:

Pistols/Machine Pistols: very quickly relegated to backup weapon status. General progression is:
SIG P210 or Glock 17--> Glock 18 --> FN Five Seven --> Veresk or MP7A1 (Machine Pistol). Snipers need an automatic backup weapon, so I prioritize machine pistols for them.

Submachine Guns:
Steyr AUG Para, FN P90. These are rather predictable choices, but they are probably the most devastating weapons within their category.

Carbines:
Colt M4 Commando, Magpul PDR. Again, very predictable choices, based on stats.

ARs:
HK G11: I've yet to find a better weapon for a novice marksman. The bullpup draw speed, solid range, and delayed recoil on burst fire makes it deadly for almost anyone. I can give this thing with a 7x scope to Vince, Shank, or any subpar merc and they will take out enemies right away, without any further training. Too bad the game limits your access to them when in realistic mode.
Other favorites still include M4A1, Diemaco C7A2, Steyr AUG A2 and A3, FN FAL OSW, HK 417, Ares Shrike, RPK-74, SCAR-H SV. The choices are as much for stats as for style.

Machine Guns:
RPK, FN MINIMI, FN MAG. The RPK remains a great weapon for using spare ammo that's lying around. It's a pretty stable autofire platform, too, for when you actually want to hit what you're shooting at and not just suppress the enemy. The MINIMI remains my MG standard for versatility. The MAG is probably the most lethal of the three.

Rifles:
Mini-14 is out... I realized the ridiculous burst costs with a trigger group installed. I did discover the (probably oopsed) ridiculously non-existent burst penalties for the HEZI SM-1.

Sniper Rifles:
Dragunov SVD or SVDS, M21 EBR, VSSK Vychlop. I stick with semi automatic rifles, in a designated marksman sort of role. I generally don't take shots from across the map... my scout rarely strays so far from the group that I can set up those sorts of sniper shots... generally the scout is more "point man" than anything else. Long range shots are often used in daylight skirmishing to instigate combat, where I can often drop many enemies before they close in on my position.

Shotguns: the CAWS and USAS-12 are excellent with buckshot. I otherwise generally avoid semi-auto shotguns except for early game. Meltdown is absolutely savage in the early game with a pair of UDAR pistols, though.